Published 21:15 IST, July 17th 2020
'Stop fussing over same names': Asrani on R Balki's 'Ranbir-Alia best actors' statement
"Many others too if we look beyond A list film families, & take a few chances. I love Ranbir, Alia, but please, they aren't the only good actors," wrote Asrani
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In the aftermath of Sushant Singh Rajput's death intense debates and conversations on 'nepotism', favourtism, insider vs outsider have been triggered. While some feel many have bagged films because of nepotism, others suggest that only talent matters in the industry.
In an interview with a leading publication, director R Balki said, "Find me a better actor than Alia (Bhatt) or Ranbir (Kapoor), and we’ll argue". Reacting to this, screenwriter Apurva Asrani suggested 22 names from the industry 'better' than Ranbir-Alia. Asrani also told Balki to stop 'fussing over the same 3-4 names'.
"Manoj Bajpayee, Rajkummar Rao, Vicky Kaushal, Ayushmann, Kangana Ranaut, Priyanka Chopra, Taapsee Pannu, Vidya Balan, Richa Chaddha. Many others too if we look beyond A list film families, and take a few chances. I love Ranbir & Alia, but please, they aren't the only good actors. Pankaj Tripathi, Gajraj Rao, Amit Sadh, Jaideep Ahlawat, Rasika Dugal, Swara Bhaskar, Shweta Tripathi, Sanjay Mishra, Neena Gupta, Divya Dutta, Manav Kaul, Nawazuddin, Jeetu. My god, I could go on & on about the wonderful talents we have. Stop fussing over the same 3-4 names now!," Asrani wrote.
Some filmmakers & journalists are so star struck, that they gush over mediocre actors with famous surnames. Repeatedly, these actors headline projects & the press gushes. Talented actors are mostly used as garnishing--to make the mediocre look better, but NEVER to outshine them.
— Apurva (@Apurvasrani) July 17, 2020
Meanwhile, Shekhar Kapur also disagreed with the fellow filmmaker in a courteous manner and started by saying that he had ‘huge respect’ for the 'Paa' maker. The former only highlighted that he had watched 'Kai Po Che' last night, and spoke of the work of the ‘three new young actors’ (Sushant Singh Rajput, Amit Sadh, and Rajkummar Rao). The 'Mr. India' director termed their performances as ‘stunning believable.’
The nepotism debate had become a talking point in the wake of the wake of Sushant Singh Rajput’s death as anger mounted against the star kids, who were abused by a section of netizens. Favouritism, campism, and over-promotion and negative promotional strategies too were slammed by actors like Kangana Ranaut amid reports that Sushant was ‘boycotted’ and was removed from films.
21:15 IST, July 17th 2020